Gandhis busy, Congress delays UP brainstorming session

NEW DELHI: Differences have come out in the open in Uttar Pradesh Congress even before the party could get down to brainstorming what’s wrong with it in the state where elections are due in 2017.
The party has put off the “chintan shivir” scheduled for September 10-11 in Mathura because the organizers are learnt to have said “no Rahul Gandhi, no brainstorming”.
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UP unit chief Nirmal Khatri had dispatched letters to invitees about the conclave with a detailed agenda but the organizers were not happy that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were unavailable.They apparently took exception to the state organization finalizing the schedule without checking Rahul’s availability.
Given that Pradeep Mathur, who is party MLA from Mathura, is a local heavyweight, partymen view him as the event organizer.
When contacted, Khatri said the conclave had to be put off because of the coming panchayat polls in UP for which a notification will be issued on September 9 and that party members had said they would be busy with selecting candidates this week.
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However, Mathur said the conclave would be held soon after a discussion with Rahul. “It had to be put off because Rahul will be in Odisha during the time decided for the Mathura workshop. The AICC in-charge would meet him soon to check his availability and fix the dates accordingly. The partymen want the inspiring words of the Gandhis. What would be a brainstorming without them?” the Congress head in UP assembly told TOI.
For the party battered into irrelevance in the largest state, Congress’s decision to hold a brainstorming appeared to be dictated by a sense of foreboding. The fact that BJP is threatening to return to UP scene after its victory in Lok Sabha polls has added to the urgency in Congress ranks. No wonder, Congress has listed the 2017 assembly elections and the issues it should take up, as the agenda for discussion at the conclave. A continued revival of BJP in UP could be debilitating for Congress as they share a common vote-base.